Thursday, July 30, 2015

Fedora.

This photos are from awhile ago, but I'm dumping photos from my phone and card onto the computer. And these are begging to be shared.



Pieces of my little heart, these two. Looks like a hat my grandpa Ray would have worn, too.

-Heather


Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A Pinker Family Week.

My sister and family arrived late last Friday for a week of vacation. Yes, they take a week to travel to North Dakota. Truly a vacation destination, folks!

We had a nice weekend together and it's just a great feeling to be all together. We went to a kids renaissance fair and Heritage Center Saturday. Sunday was a trolley ride and trip around Fort Lincoln. Late Sunday night, however, I woke up with pink eye. Bad, goopy, sore right eye, up for a few hours in the middle of the night deal. I was bummed knowing we planned the waterpark for Monday and I wouldn't be able to go! And worrying about giving it to others. And mostly kicking myself for not getting new glasses yet.

Sidenote: I actually DID get new glasses a few weeks ago. I bought them online. They showed up and the box and case were all smashed and the frames were bent from bad shipping. Plus they were a little too big. So I returned them and planned on trying that online route again. My old glasses are over ten years old. Most of the coatings are scratched off. They are way small and severely bent causing them to be way crocked. In my defense, I only wear them right before bed or in the morning before my contacts. So part of what I was worrying about was having to wear those glasses this week!

Thankfully there is a place in Bismarck that does same-day glasses. So Monday Annalee and I missed the waterpark but went and I blindly picked out one of the cheapest glasses they had (still more than I wanted to spend but not bad). Plus I had still-good prescription drops for pink eye I started Monday which significantly improved my eye. I ended up going in to the doctor today for that and to make sure I didn't have strep or something since my throat has had issues this last week. Just not a great week to be sickly. No strep, thankfully. Especially since the Zander Family Reunion starts Friday. Spread the love, not germs.

To note, Eli had a great time with the family at the waterpark Monday. Perfect hot day for it! Then the wind arrived yesterday so we had a low-key day. Today the Lipperts and my parents headed up to Crosby for a quick visit, to come back tomorrow. The house will be quiet tonight! It makes me happy to see my kids interacting with my family and vice versa. It's got sweetness written all over it.
authentic mexican (food, not us)
At the burger place, soccer themed for Ali, our soccer star!
HILARIOUS! The waitress took some of our baskets when we were done. She said "NO, don't take my food!" and used her hands to cover her basket. Biggest sentence I could understand. Then she repeated another waiter she overheard say "is your food ok?" - she just talked and talked and made us all smile!
Better than TV entertainment. We had winds 50-70+ mph last evening. We had stuff flying. Greg got out his goggles and jacket to run to rescue things. We all watched and laughed. Lots. 
-Heather

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Choo.

Trolley Ride!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

The Bee.

If you're not from the prairie...you can't KNOW wind. (Looking out on the family field)
I brought the kids to the Threahing Bee last weekend. My dad was there and we had a nice time. Annalee was cutting teeth so battling a fever but she improved by Sunday. 

I took some great photos on my camera that I'll share later perhaps. 

For now: 
Eli got to steer the golf cart. 

Fagerlands let us take over their house stay with them and Eli loved it. Playing Sorry and picking wild peas were highlights.

Our friends gave us this stroller and it is THE BEST! 

Riding the family fire truck in the parade! Whoot!

-Heather 

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Hear That?

My house, well two floors of it, is sparkling clean. I didn't leave the house for two days. Last week I had a breakdown and it showed me that my inner soul must have clean and order at least SOME of the time in order for me to feel refreshed. I have been able to live with a certain amount of chaos, oh my have we had a bit of uncertain chaos in the last few years, but I will inevitably hit a wall and crave order. The wall came last week. Too much dirt and clutter and that we-have-lived-here-a-year-and-I-don't-know-where-to-put-band-aids unsettled feeling, it clung to me and I felt a bit trapped.

Friday night Greg took the kids camping and to hang out with Chris and Lilli. I have never had overnight time in my house to myself without the kids. I *almost* wish I didn't have projects up the wah-zoo! I did spend some time reading a book club book so that was a few hours of total rest after hours and hours of cleaning and scrubbing and laundry and organizing.

I wish I could say it's done but we live in this UN-finished house still with dirt instead of lawn. Oh and we have two adorable littles so the reality is mess is here to stay! But for now, I feel much more calm and able to approach messy life.

So every now and again, this girl just needs some quiet, Norwex, her machines (washer/dryer/vacuum), sharpies and post-its, a plan, a book, and a weekend. Happy sigh.

-Heather

PS - I am excited for my three to come home, make it loud and (slightly) messy again around here. Life with them is so much more full.

Monday, July 6, 2015

Quote Board.

Greg and I want to start a quote board for life with the kids. Because they are hilarious. Without meaning to be... which is the best type of hilariousness.

"You can't lick the trident." -Greg to Eli with the glow trident Grandma bought for the 4th (which he slept with for two nights thereafter)

"Annalee, stop using your eggs as a phone." -Heather to Annalee at the dinner table

"Moon. Moon. Moon. Moon." -Annalee to Greg so he'll do fly to the moon with her

And let's just say when Greg was at Lowes with Eli for the Build and Grow event... Eli said some innocent but inappropriate things about his, um, private areas. They left early to finish their project at home. Kids!

-Heather

4th.

We had a fun week with family! But up late and snacks and spoiling made for a few interesting moments. Oi. 

Here they are Saturday, our talkative boy explaining the scenario for the race they were about to start. Oh and Eli got his first nerf gun from Uncle Chris and Annalee was a big fan. 

 
Life with these two is awesome. Hard but awesome. 

-Heather